Delta Award Sale: From 34k SkyMiles roundtrip to London

Delta is seemingly running another unadvertised flash sale, this time on the routes that it operates from the US-London. Prices range from 40k to 60k SkyMiles roundtrip and are available most days between mid-September and mid-December, as well as January-February or March. It also includes many smaller connecting airports as well.

There is a catch – the low pricing and wide open award availability is for economy class only.

Earlier this year, Delta added a 15% discount on award bookings for Delta cardholders. The 15% discount is stacking with this sale, making the value proposition even better for folks who have a Delta card, as flights start at 34,000 SkyMiles roundtrip

The Deal

• Delta is running an economy award flash sale to London that includes departures from the the following cities (and many more). Prices range from 40,000-60,000 SkyMiles roundtrip.
  • Atlanta
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Detroit
  • Los Angeles
  • Minneapolis
  • New York
  • Salt Lake City
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Washington, DC
• It also includes connecting itineraries from many smaller, regional airports.

Quick Thoughts

Delta’s award pricing to can be astronomical at times, especially on international flights. For example, if you want to travel to Europe, many dates often price out at over 100,000 SkyMiles round trip…in economy.

This award sale is therefore significantly better at only 40,000-60,000 SkyMiles round trip, depending on the departure point. The pricing seems to only be available when flying direct to London Heathrow (LHR), but it seems to be wide-open from almost every US route to LHR that Delta flies. For example, here’s the availability for 4 people on an 8 day trip from Los Angeles (LAX) – LHR:

It’s worth double-checking these prices vs the cash fares. Some aren’t that great of a deal (which is sometimes the case with SkyMiles). For instance, several of the LA dates above have cash prices of ~$625 roundtrip. You’re still on the hook for around $200 in taxes on the award ticket, so those 40,000 SkyMiles are only saving you ~$425 from the cash price on those days (if you don’t have a Delta card), or just above 1 cent per point. We value Delta miles at about 1.3 cents each, so that would be a sub-optimal redemption. That said, other dates and cites offer better value.

(h/t: Alec Legg)

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